The Maidens Who Decide Our Fate

Who decides the course of a human life?

In The Seeress's Prophecy, 3 wise maidens come from the spring beneath the tree. Their names are Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld. They carve marks into pieces of wood and lay down laws for people, deciding their lives and their fates.

In Gylfaginning, the 3 maidens come from a beautiful hall beside the spring beneath the tree. These maidens, who decide the course of human lives, are called the Norns. There are other Norns besides these 3. They visit whenever a child is born and decide the course of that child's life.

Some Norns belong to the family of the gods, others to the families of elves or dwarfs. Human lives differ in wealth and length. Gylfaginning explains that a good life is the work of good Norns, while an unhappy life is the work of bad ones.

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